The Kashmiri people, who continue to suffer under India’s military occupation, will not give up their struggle for the right to self-determination “under any circumstances,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.N., Masood Khan, has said.
“We haven’t achieved our goal but we will persevere in our struggle,” he told a seminar held at the Pakistani embassy to mark the Kashmir Black Day.
“When you try to sweep such issues under the carpet, they erupt with intensity as it has happened in the case of Palestine,” the Pakistani envoy warned the international community.
” The plight of Kashmiris is even worse than Palestinians,” Masood Khan said, drawing attention to the presence of 900,00 Indian troops in the UN-recognized disputed state.
“Kashmiris are being targeted by the occupation forces every day. There are killings, arrests, sexual violence, land grabs — all documented.”
In this context, Ambassador Masood Khan called for recalibrating the strategy on the Kashmir issue., as the one being pursued over the last several years has not produced results. In the meantime, he said, India has violated all international laws and conventions in occupied Kashmir.’ as also the political, economic, social and cultural rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
At the time of partition, the Ambassador said that the Indian leadership, including Mahatama Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vallabhbhai Patel, had failed to convince the Kashmiris to join India, as they always wanted to opt for Pakistan.
The Maharaja of Kashmir and Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah had betrayed the people of Kashmir, he said, adding that India would never have occupied large swaths of Jammu and Kashmir militarily without their explicit consent and support.
“So it was a managed and fake accession,” he remarked. Messages of President Arif Alvi and Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar were read out on the occasion.
Former Norwegian MP Lars Rise, speaking to the gathering via Zoom, underscored the need for making world leaders realize about the gravity of the situation and the need to find a permanent solution to the long-standing issue.
The President Islamic Circle of North America, Dr. Mohasin Ansari. said that the voice for justice may take long but the truth and justice would finally prevail. Noted Author and Historian Victoria Schofield called for galvanizing civil society and raising awareness about the issue of Kashmir.
American Analyst on Kashmir, Col Wesley Martin, highlighted the precarious humanitarian situation in occupied territory stating that the entire region was facing a grave threat. He opined that the wave of violence would continue under the present Indian leadership.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary-General World Kashmir Awareness Forum, said that the people of Kashmir were facing an existential threat and genocide. He said that the Indian government was taking steps to change the demography of the region. He also called for US intervention to facilitate the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Chairman of Kashmir Campaign Global Zafar Qureshi and Professor from George Washington University, Dr. Imtiaz Khan, also spoke, highlighting the worsening of the situation in Kashmir.
Kashmiri leader Muzzammil Ayub Thakur and Advisor to President AJK Sardar Zareef Khan urged the U.N. to implement its resolutions that grant the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination.
A photographic exhibition highlighting the Indian atrocities and the ground situation in occupied Jammu & Kashmir was also held.—INP
